The Crucible by Arthur Miller

I know that as a theater person I am way behind the times in reading this play. I can see why it is considered a classic, but I can also see why it is not popular among actors.

Arthur Miller is a good playwright and he definitely writes in a poetic manner. One of my favorite lines in the play is absolutely beautiful:

“Until an hour before the Devil fell, God thought him beautiful in Heaven.”

Of course there are issues with this play. I read the preface to the play and while it was explained why Miller made the historical changes that he did, I'm not sure what the purpose was in doing so.

Miller keeps the story the same in that young girls are caught dancing in the woods and in order to prevent reprimanding they say they are possessed by the devil. The begin to accuse women in the town as having made pacts with the devils. The change occurs mainly in the character of Abigail who is now seventeen instead of being eleven or twelve as she was in real life. The girls are all older with the exception of Betty Parris.

Abigail is the ringleader of the girls and she begins the accusations mainly because she is seeking revenge on John Proctor and his wife. She used to work for them, but is fired after she and John begin an affair.

The main issue with the play is the time when it was written. 

John and Abigail begin an affair. Goody Proctor suspects it and does nothing about it except to fire Abigail. John is upset and when he confronts his wife she says that her behavior caused him to turn to the affair. Not many people nowadays would accept the fact that a woman is blaming herself for making her husband go astray. It was written in a different time and it takes place in a different time and perhaps this should give us the chance to forgive the play, but I know people that would not let that slide.

This aspect did not bother me so much. I was more bothered by the female characters. I did not find them interesting, but was frustrated by them.

Overall Abigail and John's relationship had no point to it other than to fuel the accusations. The real story is more interesting than this.

The penguin edition of the play ends with an afterword. As it is written by Arthur Miller, I'm not sure how accurate it is and I am also not sure if it is meant to be included in the notes of the playbill as the audience would otherwise have no way of knowing what is written.

The writing is beautiful and I think this is the main reason as to why it is considered an American classic. It is a play that needs to be in an actor's repertoire as it is mentioned a lot in any circle, but apart from the language there was nothing to me that stood out.